David Diga Hernandez - God's Anointed: Anna the Prophetess

I’m going to talk to you about Anna the prophetess. Now, you don’t really hear many messages about Anna the prophetess; in fact, I’ve never heard one, and I’ve grown up in church. But I’m going to discuss her in this edition of Spirit Church, and I truly believe this message will bless, empower, and encourage you to pursue all that God has called you to do. Let me be clear: this message is for both men and women. Though I’m talking about Anna the prophetess, this applies to men too. Even though this message is for both genders, there’s still something I must address. You see, as I was preparing for this series and teaching it, I knew I would eventually have to tackle this very controversial subject. I talked about Isaiah the prophet, King David, Saul, or Paul, and Moses. While discussing all of these characters, I knew that there were powerful, mighty, anointed women in the Bible I wanted to present as examples of God’s calling. However, I also knew that the moment I presented a woman whom God had anointed, this controversy would arise—and sadly, it does.

There is a controversy surrounding the idea of women in ministry or women being used by God. I want to share where I stand on this issue: I know that the Bible teaches with absolute clarity that God uses women too, and I want you to find peace in knowing what Scripture teaches. I’ll share a few thoughts on this matter shortly, and then I’ll get into the main portion of the lesson on Anna the prophetess. But I also want to say this: I know that I won’t settle this issue in this edition of Spirit Church, nor could I settle it in multiple editions because this debate will continue until the Lord returns. I want to speak to women who feel oppressed by the idea that God doesn’t want to use them because of their gender or how He created them. Think about that—it’s so sad that people actually believe that. God wants to liberate you from that religious doctrine and that mindset. I pray that this be broken over your life today in Jesus' name because if you’re a woman, I want you to know that God wants to use you. God has anointed you, gifted you, and He wants you to operate in those gifts in the body of Christ.

There are those who will say, «Well, you know, the Old Testament makes it perfectly clear: God’s plan, God’s pattern.» They’ll say, «All of the patriarchs were men; all of the prophets were men; all of the priests were men; all of the kings were men; and all of the armies were made up of men.» They’ll list all of these powerful men of God and say, «See, that’s God’s way of doing things.» Anytime you present to them any Scripture where God uses a woman, they’ll say, «Ah, well that’s just an anomaly—an unclear scripture that you have to interpret in light of all the clear scripture we have.» What’s interesting to me is that these same people who invoke the Old Testament to assert that God doesn’t want to use women immediately reject that same Testament when you start pointing out people like Esther, Deborah, and other anointed women whom God used. They will say, «Well, that lays the groundwork, ” but the moment you use that groundwork—the Old Testament—to show that God does use women, they say, „Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute—that has nothing to do with the New Testament Church!“ Yet they were the ones who invoked it. You see, they like the Old Testament until it challenges their theology. We’ve seen women being used by God in the Old Testament, and even in the New Testament, we find scriptures such as Romans 16:7, where the Bible says, „Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who were in prison with me. Junia is a woman, by the way. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.“ Again, they’ll say, „Well, wait a minute, that’s one scripture, one thought, and it’s so unclear! What does it mean, ‘among the apostles’? Maybe she wasn’t really counted among the apostles.“ I will admit that verse is debatable, but they take verses like that and say, „Well, it’s not so clear. We have to take the unclear and compare it with the clear teachings of Scripture.“ Then what about scriptures like Romans 16:1: „I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who was a deacon in the church of Cenchrea“? Now wait a minute, that is a direct contradiction to those who believe that God doesn’t want to use women in ministry. They’ll say, „Well, yes, she was a deacon, but God doesn’t want women to instruct men.“ Nonsense! Acts 18:24–26: „Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. He had been taught the way of the Lord and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue…“